Lexie Conyngham
The Murray of Letho Series
Charles Murray is the reluctant laird of Letho Estate in the fading splendour of Georgian Scotland. His household is a mess, his servants quixotic, rebellious and loyal by turns, and his betters all too often turn out to be nothing of the kind. From the treacherous alleyways of Edinburgh and the byways of Fife, to the distant shores of India, can a gentleman see this much death and betrayal, and remain true to who he is?
"Elegant, vivid and often drily hilarious. I have to ensure I don’t guzzle the whole thing in one go." (Pamela Kelt, reader)
Death In A Scarlet Gown (Book One)
1802. An ancient Scottish university is wracked by murder. A vindictive professor, an uncouth student, and a man seeking ministry lie dead, but who wanted to kill them? Charles Murray, a student with enough problems of his own, is drawn into the mystery, where neither innocuous accidents nor good friends are all they seem.
Knowledge of Sins Past (Book Two)
Scotland at the beginning of the nineteenth century. Scoggie Castle is cold and grim, but a refuge to the disinherited Charles Murray. Then a series of mysterious deaths shakes family and servants alike, and splits the local village in two. Murray is thrown once more into the midst of murder, but who has the answer in this dark rural landscape - the pig-lovers or the pig-haters?
Service of the Heir (Book Three)
Charles Murray is in Edinburgh when tragedy strikes him. Yet is everything quite as it seems? The deaths of a lawyer and a servant not only draw him down to Edinburgh’s grim underclass, but also make him reconsider his elegant society friends. Who kills – and who gives the orders?
An Abandoned Woman (Book Four)
A hot summer in Fife, and Charles Murray, laird of Letho, is a busy man. His servants’ wing is leaking, his minister’s manse is falling down, his houseguest is annoying and his neighbour’s niece is entrancing. When an unknown woman dies mysteriously on his land, he can hardly find time to investigate her death – until it involves the whole village, and more violence follows. This is the fourth novel in the Murray of Letho series, set in Georgian Scotland.
Fellowship With Demons (Book Five)
Edinburgh 1810: Charles Murray of Letho, a young gentleman of means, is in much demand: a rich widow, an old friend, and new military acquaintances all need his help. But when Henry Dundas, Viscount Melville, sends him an invitation, vanity and curiosity force him to accept – and straightaway he has to deal with murder. Why did a cowardly surgeon kill a drunken engraver? And what would the consequences be, in the rainy mists of autumn? In the end Murray’s answers to his problems will lead to a decision that will change his life.
The Tender Herb (Book Six)
1812 – Recovering in Naples from the intrigues of Scottish politics, Charles Murray is drawn further afield by urgent news of an old servant in distant Mughal India. Going to the aid of one woman, he finds another and is pursued by a third. But that is no recipe for an easy life, and with imperial spies on the streets of Delhi, Murray must investigate the murder that brought him to the East, and redeem himself in his own eyes.
Death of An Officer's Lady (Book Seven)
"No trace: good. No way of following her."
Lt. George Murray needs his brother Charles’ help. One of his fellow officers has not heard from his wife in Edinburgh for several weeks, and he’s worried. George would go himself but Charles is only in Fife and besides, George is waiting in Belgium while a small man named Bonaparte, newly back from Elba, decides whether or not to leave Paris and fight. But what Charles Murray finds out in Edinburgh will not be straightforward, and in the end both brothers’ lives will be in danger, in more ways than one.
Out of a Dark Reflection (Book Eight)
Murray’s most unsettling case to date…
Letho, Fife, 1816: Murray and his guests all have good reasons for not attending Edinburgh’s winter season, even down to the new maid. But then an old woman is found dead in the village, and murmurings of witchcraft are abroad. Suddenly everyone seems to have the darkest of secrets – but who would kill to keep theirs?
Look out for A Dark Night at Midsummer – the novella-length sequel to this novel.
Slow Death By Quicksilver (Book Nine)
It’s a long walk home to Ulster from Glasgow University – and even longer when the journey is interrupted by murder. Murray of Letho is staying with an old friend in the fishing village by Loch Ryan where the unpopular Newell meets his death. Missing his daughter, resenting his mourning and distracted by an abundance of charming female company, Murray struggles to find the murderer amongst a host of suspects, in a village where every second inhabitant has motive, means, and a fine knowledge of poison.
Thicker Than Water (Book Ten)
When young Walter finds a dead body along with the dead fish in his tutor’s fishpond, he knows he should tell his old master, Charles Murray of Letho. The dead man leaves a pretty wife and child and a broken string quartet, but someone must have profited by his death – could it be the avenger from his past as his widow fears, or is it someone from closer at hand? St. Andrews is once again the setting for a murder mystery, and a puzzle that Murray must solve before the
murderer strikes again.
A Deficit of Bones (Book Eleven)
A violent double murder in a lonely, empty house. Not the kind of mystery that Charles Murray and his old friend Blair expect to find when they are trapped in snowbound Aberdeen. Tangled with dangerous whisky smugglers and an unexplained local illness, the solution is far from clear – and does it involve a missing box of human bones?
